


Pilot Wave

by onvavoir



Series: Teumessian Fox [8]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-31 02:04:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3960313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onvavoir/pseuds/onvavoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt can handle anything. Except relatively normal relationships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pilot Wave

It's late in the evening, so the knock at the door puts Matt on mild alert. Things have been quiet, but unexpected visitors are not something he's accustomed to. He pads up the steps as he puts on his glasses, quiet as a cat, and pauses near the door to listen. Heartbeat, breathing, the faint scent of that hair stuff. Steve Rogers is outside his apartment. Still cautious, Matt opens the door. 

"Hi, I'm sorry to stop by so late..."

"It's okay. Bucky's not here, though."

"No, I know. I... wanted to talk to you."

"Oh." 

He stands back and lets Steve in, follows him back down to the living room. He goes to the kitchen, mostly to keep himself moving.

"Can I get you anything? A beer?"

Steve hesitates. "Nah, I'm all right."

Matt opens the fridge and gets out the filter pitcher, pours himself a glass of water. It gives his hands something to do while he waits for Steve to say whatever's on his mind. He wouldn't be here without an agenda, and the only thing they have in common besides extrajudicial beatings is Bucky Barnes. He bites the inside of his lip to keep from smiling at the thought of Captain America giving him the shotgun speech. Gestures towards the furniture. Slight creak as Steve sits down in one of the chairs. Matt tilts his head and listens carefully to his breathing and heartbeat.

"Can I ask what this is about?"

"I'm sorry to have just dropped in. I didn't want to alarm you by asking to 'Talk,' and it didn't seem appropriate to come to your office."

Matt drinks his water and waits for Steve to continue, gazing more or less in his direction. He says nothing. Karen says it's unsettling to be so silent, but he's never felt the need to fill gaps in conversation with nervous chatter. Steve is quiet for a moment, then seems to grasp that Matt's waiting for him to go on.

"I appreciate all your help-- with everything. It's gonna be a long fight, but we'll win. So thank you."

Matt cradles the glass in his hand.

"But?"

Slight exhale through the nose.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Even if I couldn't hear your heart speed up," Matt says with a bit of a smile. "You did come to my apartment in the middle of the night."

He imagines Steve is smiling. He definitely ducks his head.

"Buck's... he's coming back to himself. Slowly. But I don't think New York is the best place for him. I wanna take him somewhere quiet, out of the way. Let him reacquaint himself with the world a little at a time. The hearings are gonna be a circus, so I want him to rest while he can."

"And keep him off the radar," Matt adds.

He doesn't mean it to sound snarky, but it probably does, a little. He tries not to think about the pull he feels in his stomach at the thought of Bucky going away.

"That too. But I'm not sure he'll agree to it."

"And you... want me to talk to him?"

"Ah, not exactly."

It occurs to him that Steve and Bucky have had this conversation. About him. He doubts it was pleasant. For all the respect he has for Steve, all the admiration, right now he wishes he would just leave. He wants to hear Steve say it. This is where his existence becomes a complication. It would be easier for everyone involved if he put Bucky off, explicitly or by simply avoiding him. He's not so sure the coward's way would work, actually-- Bucky does have a key now. The flood of excuses that wells up at the back of his mouth tastes like brackish water on pavement-- and he would know.

"I know you've got your practice, but I'd like you to come with us. Just for a couple of weeks, 'til he's comfortable."

Matt's mouth drops open.

"I, uh... wasn't expecting that," he says with a nervous laugh.

It's rare for him to be genuinely surprised. He has no need to avoid eye contact with people, but he still drops his head as he fidgets with the glass. He'd already reconciled himself with the likelihood of not seeing Bucky again. It had seemed inevitable, as it has with any other relationship he's had-- more so because of everything Bucky's been through, and will go through. The thought hadn't occurred to him that circumstances might not separate them. That one of them would have to do it.

"Look, I don't wanna stick my nose where it doesn't belong," Steve says, and something in the way he says it seems to add  _but really I do_. "Whatever this is, it's between you and Bucky. I just... want to do right by him."

"I don't know what to say," Matt says.

Steve stands up, puts up his hands, then shoves them in his pockets. It's a weirdly self-conscious gesture for someone like him to make.

"You don't have to make a decision right now. I just... wanted to suggest it."

Matt tilts his head slightly, thinking.

"You haven't mentioned it to him yet."

"No. I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't."

Matt lifts his chin to speak, reconsiders, and then decides to say it anyway.

"You should. It would be good for him." He swallows. "And if anyone would know, you would."

He manages a crooked smile that he hopes looks encouraging. His chest caves in a little as he realises that he's already made the decision. In his mind Bucky is already gone.

"Thanks," Steve says, and at least Matt can hear a smile of his own in that.


End file.
